goodbye, sunshine
by mayfairs
Summary: Before he leaves, he wishes her good luck. /for doroniasobi/


.

.

_goodbye, sunshine._

Before he leaves, he wishes her good luck. /for **doroniasobi**/

.

.

**一**

_Taiwan is bewitched when Hong Kong shows her the gramophone he had received from their brother. China had said it was a gift – an invention from lands seas away, too far to reach, yet at the same time all too near. Taiwan knows one day Hong Kong will sail and reach there too, but she doesn't worry. She knows he'll come back to her in the end._

_Boys will be boys._

_Taiwan still stares at the polished item with fondness, and Hong Kong couldn't help but smile. It would not seem like much to an outsider, but Taiwan knew it was one of Hong Kong's best smiles he could give._

"_Do you like it?" He asks._

_Taiwan gasps in wonder when the huge object started playing a loud, jazzy theme, something she had never really heard of before. It was all new, exciting, and mysterious._

_She loved it._

_Hong Kong chuckles at her reaction, knowing that in itself was the best answer he could get._

"_Would you like it?" Hong Kong carefully drops._

_Taiwan gasps louder. "Really? I-I thought they were really hard to come by and- and, well, wasn't it a present from brother?" _

"_Yes, but you can have it. You look happier with it than I do anyway." Hong Kong nods to himself._

"_Thank you so much!" She jumps on him in a rather unladylike manner, but Hong Kong doesn't mind._

_She is close._

_As close as she will ever be._

.

.

.

.

**二**

Taiwan is walking in town, with Hong Kong by her side. She wears a light smile, and her eyes carry a twinkle with her. The main streets of town is busy and mostly crowded, but she doesn't pay mind to the men who look at her like they've never seen a pretty young woman before.

When there's too many people, Hong Kong would snake his arm around her to avoid any nasty pickpockets or men with crafty hands. He knows only too well the danger of the main streets, after all, it is his home.

Taiwan is visiting. It would only be polite of him to lead her out the house, take her to places he knows too well and she might not know. It had been a long time since her last visit, after all. Things change only too quickly.

Hong Kong looks at her wordlessly as Taiwan looks around at the street stalls with bright eyes and a curiosity of a child.

She looks too bright for him to look at, sometimes.

Hong Kong stops when he realises that she's not by his side. He quickly looks around him, and sighs with relief when he spots her by a jewellery stall. He hurries by her side.

"Ah," the stall lady says, with a wide grin. "Buying for your pretty girlfriend? She is worth it, such beautiful brown locks she has..."

Hong Kong notices that Taiwan turned red at the storekeeper's words, but Hong Kong says nothing.

The lady found that reaction rather amusing, judging by the tone she used. "Why don't you take a look, young man? We have lots to choose from at very suitable prices."

Taiwan was touching the cheap charms and hair pins, and the smile on her lips told him that she was in love.

But something else catches Hong Kong's eyes.

He picks up the creamy pink flower from the corner, that she had obviously not noticed, and asks the lady how much it is.

He pays.

"Taiwan, _please_."

She turns to him, and closes her eyes as he slips the flower in her hair. It matches her dress perfectly, and Hong Kong feels that sense of achievement down in his gut.

He doesn't notice the light blush decorating her cheeks.

The stall lady chuckles in wisdom.

.

.

.

.

**三**

She dreams about him.

She dreams about feeling the hair that he takes so much time grooming, hugging him, and sometimes... even kissing his lips. In all of her dreams about that, she has to reach to him, after all, he's grown so _tall._

And most of the time, she feels a little disgusted of herself. Hong Kong is her _brother. _China loves him so much, sometimes, even more than herself. She knew his culture, and hers, didn't value females that much, but nevertheless, China had been good to her. He had never once made her do anything she didn't want to do, even though he knew that she couldn't refuse for too long.

She doesn't get to see Hong Kong much. He is a man, she is a woman. She is meant to stay at home, and look _pretty. _Yes, her siblings would argue against that but Taiwan didn't see it any other way.

With nothing much to do, she stays in the walls of her home and thinks. She cries sometimes because of that, but if she's lucky, sometimes she's invited to parties to take her mind off things. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.

She has to think of her people, not her heartbreak.

Nevertheless, she cries. For what, she sometimes doesn't know, but she does deep down. She just doesn't want to admit it.

She cries for _him_.

The one she shouldn't love.

.

.

.

.

**四**

The next time Hong Kong comes to see Taiwan, it is her superior he sees, instead of the young lady he was expecting.

"I'm sorry, Hong Kong. Taiwan's not been feeling very well lately, so I'm afraid she can't come and see you. I apologise for wasting your time coming over here, I really am."

He bows slightly, and Hong Kong nods only out of politeness.

He doesn't show his worry when he walks away.

Taiwan's boss closes the large red double doors without hesitation.

.

.

.

.

**五**

Hong Kong is genuinely surprised when he receives notice that his brother wanted to see him. He knew that China was busy with the war effort, and he was doing his bit also, for his brother.

His mouth is left agape when he sees him lying on his bed, and his voice is weak. Hong Kong knows that his pride is broken far worse than what is shown on his body, however.

"I'm sorry," China's voice is weak and shaky. "I'm _sorry._"

"What are you sorry for, brother?" Hong Kong asks.

The door behind him opened and a man, standing tall and great seemed to loom over him.

"You're coming with me now, _Hong Kong_." England smiles, but Hong Kong sees it more as a smirk.

There is a heavy rock in his chest.

.

.

.

.

**六**

"Boss," Taiwan asks, suppressing her headache, a price for her tears. "Who was at the door before?"

Her superior's lips tightened to a hard line. He couldn't quite look into her eyes.

"Tell _me._" She demanded in a rougher tone.

Her boss sighed, taking a seat on the wooden chair that stood beside the taller table. Taiwan was looking at him without mercy from her bed.

"It was Hong Kong. I sent him away though. You're far too-"

Taiwan cut him off. "_Why _did you not tell me, boss?" The tears threatened to pour out again, but Taiwan stops it.

"It won't do you any good, Taiwan. Your brother lost. Hong Kong is England's now. You won't see him again for a long, long, time." Her boss breaks the news softly, not wanting her to snap, but knowing she would, anyway.

Her boss is out her bedroom door by the time the first sob is heard.

.

.

.

.

**七**

When Taiwan received the news that her brother was well enough to see, she stormed over there right away. She had been waiting for too long.

"Brother!" She called as she opened the doors to his study, where the person in question was writing calligraphy with slow twists of his wrist.

China looks up to his younger sister with a small, forced smile. He places the brush down, and looks straight at her.

"Why... _why _didn't you tell me about Hong Kong?" It hurt for her just to stutter those words out. She was sure China could tell that she was about to cry.

"I'm sorry, meimei." His eyes no longer have the courage to meet hers. "I could not tell you... I couldn't _bare _to see you in this state."

Taiwan finds it hard to bring up hate. She _couldn't _hate her brother. From the things she had heard, his opponent was strong, incredibly so, and her brother wasn't strong enough to beat him.

"You...You should have told me, idiot!" Tears are already running again.

China sighs, and shakes his head. He picks up a folded sheet of paper from his desk as he stands, walking over to her.

"Don't cry, meimei." China embraces her, and Taiwan takes his warmth up gratefully. She was still not over it.

"He's left something for you."

.

.

.

.

**八**

_Taiwan_

_I'm sorry for this sudden goodbye. _

_I'll be back soon, I promise. _

_I've told you that I won't leave you, right? _

_I don't like Mr England, but he doesn't seem like a bad person. _

_I'll be fine. _

_Don't worry for me, and don't ever cry for me. _

_Could you promise me that?_

_I'll show you lots of new things when I'm back, so wait for me, please?_

_I love you._

_Hong Kong_

_._

_._

_._

_._

**九**

When China presents the object that makes her wonder, there's a gut feeling that she's met it before, but she doesn't know where, doesn't know when.

"It's very clever, isn't it?" China grins, as he watches the large black disks spin around. He claps his hands, and Taiwan knows he's very happy.

Taiwan touches the smooth golden surface of the strange thing that plays music, but still, she does not remember.

All she knows is that it doesn't feel _right._

_

* * *

_

A/N: I hope everyone enjoys this! Please forgive my historical innaccuracies, haha. The grammophone should be introduced into asia (namely taiwan or china) in the 1900s and hong kong is taken in the 1800s so yeah. i'm sorry if my protrayal isn't all that excellent, and stuff. but i hope you like it. each header is a number in chinese, from one to nine. i didn't want to add a number ten since it might ruin the ending, haha;;


End file.
